Talk:Pokédex/@comment-29611095-20160813023637
I made a wiki account just so I could comment here because honestly this is driving me up a wall. A friend showed me this game and so far I am having a blast. ...Mostly. I've never been a fan of grinding, so I'm not too thrilled with how the difficulty spikes at the fifth gym and beyond. It would be more bearable if I could keep the same pokemon on my team. To clarify what I mean, let me explain my specific play style for a bit. I am not, I repeat, NOT a competitive player. Been playing since I first got Yellow Version in 1999, but never competitively. I couldn't even wrap my head around that whole EV/IV thing until Gen 6 gave us Super Training. That said, my preferred strategy is simple: the best defence is a good offence. I want to treat ALL my pokemon as though they are One-'Mon Armies. I have a Stunfisk that can do some serious damage thanks to knowing Sludge Bomb and Scald on top of STAB attacks. My Aegislash knows Sacred Sword, Iron Head, and Shadow Claw. Facing down a tough electric type when my ground-type has fainted? No worries, my Lucario knows Bulldoze! Why would I only teach Psychic attacks to an Espeon? I'd be screwed if it encountered a Dark type, especially if I was unable to switch for some reason! But perhaps the greatest example is my oldest. My Groudon, Shadow, whom I've transfered to every new gen ever since the original Ruby. Only SIX pokemon in existance (not counting unreleased Sun and Moon 'mons) can take reduced damage from him. Over 530 can be hit with at least ONE super effective attack from his combo of Earthquake, Iron Head, Fire Punch, and Solar Beam. I know some people complain about only needing "one strong pokemon" to beat the entire game. That's not how I play. I play with SIX strong pokemon as my primary team, never changing them out (unless it's temporary necessity, such as needing a specific HM move that none of my primary team can learn) until I reach the post-game. My first E-4 victory is always with these six chosen ones. And it is from this preferred play style that I find my biggest flaw in this lovely game: darn near every pokemon that's not canon has such a shallow move pool! I'm mostly stuck with normal, STAB, or status attacks. For example I recently decided to take on a Syrentide as my main water type. I was less than pleased to find that even with TMs and breeding, the only non-normal, non-STAB, non-status attacks worth learning in her move pool are Ice Beam and Blizzard. I keep having to swap pokemon because I enter a new area that focuses more on a certain type (ex. Grass or Psychic or Fire) and because I'm mostly limited to STAB I have to dump someone in the PC, pull out a fresh 'mon, and start leveling it just to match the rest of my team. And that's not even considering any FURTHER grinding I may need to do. Currently my team is mostly level 37, just high enough to struggle before being SLAUGHTERED by the 6th Gym leader. I swapped out my Eshouten and Flager for a level 23 Palij and an egg from the Professor. Once it hatches I need to see if I want to keep that or not, decide if I want to pull out my Baaschaf and level it, and consider swapping my Jerbolta for a Hagoop. All because the move pools are so restrictive that I feel LUCKY when a party member is able to learn a different TM or non-STAB attack! I was thrilled when Metalynx learned Night Slash. Why can't my other pokemon get nice attack diversity? Am I picking the wrong ones? (So far have attempted to include Eshouten, Flager, Syrentide, Jerbolta, Baaschaf, Corsola, Herolune, Palij, and Brailip) Or do I have to stick with canon pokemon for that? If I have to stick with canon...that's really going to lower my opinion of the game. I hate grinding as it is. And I hate how these shallow move pools are preventing me from keeping to a primary six, which forces me to grind even more to bring the new, weaker party members up to a level where they can battle without being OHKO'd.